Method for performing split screen display

ABSTRACT

An apparatus for performing split display is disclosed. The apparatus includes various interfaces through which a group of information processing devices can be connected to the apparatus, a user interface (UI) module that accepts a user operation, and a screen split module that splits a display area of a display into a set of display areas. The screen split module also allocates the display areas to the group of information processing devices accordingly, and displays pieces of display information that are input from the group of information processing devices via the interfaces in the respective display areas. The screen split module may set a display attribute of each of the display areas in response to the user operation that has been accepted via the UI module.

PRIORITY CLAIM

The present application claims benefit of priority under 35 U.S.C.§§120, 365 to the previously filed Japanese Patent Application No.JP2016-121936 with a priority date of Jun. 20, 2016, which isincorporated by reference herein.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention relates to screen display in general, and inparticular to a method for performing split screen display on a display.

BACKGROUND

Displays are used in various devices such as computer systems,television sets, etc. Displays can come in different forms (such as aliquid crystal device, an organic EL device, a plasma device, a cathoderay tube, etc.), different sizes, (such as a large size, a medium sizeand a small size) and different installation types (such as a wall type,a horizontal installation type and a portable type).

There is also available a display for TV set of the type that one screencan be split into two screens in order to display programs of televisionbroadcasts of two channels on the two screens respectively. However,with the current displays, the number of screen to be split, the size ofthe screen to be split, and the position of the screen to be split areall fixed, and it is not possible for a user to freely set the number,size, and position of the split screen.

SUMMARY

In accordance with one embodiment of the present disclosure, anapparatus for performing split screen display is provided. The apparatusincludes various interfaces through which a group of informationprocessing devices can be connected to the apparatus, a user interface(UI) module that accepts a user operation, and a screen split modulethat splits a display area of a display into a set of display areas. Thescreen split module also allocates the display areas to the group ofinformation processing devices accordingly, and displays pieces ofdisplay information that are input from the group of informationprocessing devices via the interfaces in the respective display areas.The screen split module may set a display attribute of each of thedisplay areas in response to the user operation that has been acceptedvia the UI module, and the display attribute may include a displayposition and a display size for each display area.

All features and advantages of the present disclosure will becomeapparent in the following detailed written description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The invention itself, as well as a preferred mode of use, furtherobjects, and advantages thereof, will best be understood by reference tothe following detailed description of an illustrative embodiment whenread in conjunction with the accompanying drawings, wherein:

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an external appearance of a system forperforming screen split according to one embodiment;

FIG. 2 is a block diagram of the system for performing screen split;

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the system for performing screen splitaccording to one embodiment;

FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for performing screen splitaccording to one embodiment;

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating a sub menu screen for split screendisplay according to one embodiment;

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating a first display example;

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating a second display example;

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating a third display example;

FIG. 9 is a diagram illustrating a fourth display example; and

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating a fifth display.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an external appearance of a screensplit system 100, according to one embodiment. The screen split system100 may include a display 200, a screen split device 300, variousinformation processing devices 400, a remote control device 500. Thedisplay 200 and the screen split device 300 may be implemented in onechassis or may be implemented in separate chassis.

It is possible to configure the display 200 by, for example, a liquidcrystal device, a plasma device, a projector device, a cathode ray tube,etc. It is possible to configure the display 200 as displays of varioustypes such as a deck type, a wall type, a table type, etc., ranging fromsmall screens to large screens that are oriented to high vision, fullhigh vision, 4K, 8K and 16K systems. The display 200 may be configuredby a touch-operable touch display by loading a touch sensor on asubstrate for display. In addition, the display 200 may be alsoconfigured by a gesture-operable non-contact-operable display by loadinga sensor such as a camera that is adapted to detect the gesture. It ispossible to connect the display 200 with the screen split device 300 inorder to allow wired or wireless data communication with the screensplit device 300.

It is possible to connect various information processing devices 400with the screen split device 300 in order to allow wired or wirelessdata communication with the screen split device 300. The informationprocessing devices 400 outputs pieces of display information to bedisplayed on the display 200 to the screen split device 300. One of theinformation processing devices 400 is, for example, a smartphone, a cellphone handset, a tablet, a laptop PC, a desktop PC, a DVD player, aBlu-ray player, a tuner for television sets (for example, televisionsets for terrestrial digital broadcasting, communication satellitebroadcasting, broadcasting satellite broadcasting, Internet connection,etc.), a gaming machine, a digital camera, wearable devices such as asmartwatch, a fitness band, an optical head mounted display, etc.

The screen split device 300 is configured to be connected with thevarious information processing devices 400 and the display 200 so as toallow wired or wireless data communication with the various informationprocessing devices 400 and the display 200. The screen split device 300is allowed to perform split screen display, for example, on the display200. The screen split device 300 splits a display screen 201 of thedisplay 200 into multiple display areas, allocates the split displayareas respectively to the information processing devices 400 to beconnected with the screen split device 300 and displays pieces of thedisplay information that are input from the various informationprocessing devise 400 respectively in the allocated display areas. It ispossible for the screen split device 300 to set a display attribute ofeach display area in response to a user operation. The display attributemay include a display position and a display size of the display area.The display attribute may also include a display direction, a displayshape, presence/absence of mirroring and of each piece of the displayinformation. The multiple display areas may be displayed in anoverlapping state.

The screen split device 300 may accept the user operation by receiving acommand signal that is transmitted from, for example, the remote controldevice 500 adapted to operate the screen split device 300. In addition,an operation button that is used for operating the screen split device300 may be disposed on the chassis of the screen split device 300 andthe screen split device 300 may accept the user operation according tothe operation button concerned. In addition, the screen split device 300may accept the user operation performed on a touch sensor (a touchpanel) that has been disposed on the display screen of the display 200.In addition, the screen split device 300 may accept the user operationperformed on a touch sensor (a touch panel) that has been disposed onthe display screen of the display 200. In addition, the screen splitdevice 300 may accept the gesture of the user that is detected by asensor that has been disposed on the display 200 as the user operation.In addition, the screen split device 300 may accept the user operationperformed on an application program that has been installed in thevarious information processing devices 400 and is used to operate thescreen split device 300.

It is possible to configure the remote control device 500 so as to, forexample, send a command signal according to a user's operationinstruction to the screen split device 300. The screen split device 300may execute various processes in accordance with the command signal fromthe remote control device 500.

In the present embodiment, although split of the screen includes both ofa mode that respective boundaries among the multiple display areas thathave been disposed in the screen do not necessarily overlap mutually anda mode that the screen is split along horizontal-direction andvertical-direction split lines so as to mutually overlap the boundariesamong the respective display areas. In the following, a case where theboundaries among the respective display areas do not mutually overlapwill be described.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the information processing device 400, asmartphone 400A, a tablet 400B and a laptop PC 400C are connected to thescreen split device 300. Display areas 202 to 204 are set in the displayscreen 201 of the display 200 respectively in correspondence with thesmartphone 400A, the tablet 400B and the laptop PC 400C. As describedabove, it is possible to set the display attributes such as the displaypositions, the display sizes and so forth of the display areas 202 to204 in accordance with the user operation. Pieces of the displayinformation that are input from the information processing devices 400Ato 400C are displayed in the display areas 202 to 204.

FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating one example of a functionconfigurational diagram of the screen split system 100. The screen splitdevice 300 may include a user interface (UI) module 301, a screen splitmodule 302, an interface 303 adapted to connect the screen split device300 with the display 200, a group of interfaces 304 adapted to connectthe screen split device 300 with the various information processingdevices 400.

The interface 303 is adapted to connect the screen split device 300 withthe display 200 and thereby to transmit and receive data to and from thedisplay 200. The so group of interfaces 304 is adapted to connect thescreen split device 300 with the various information processing devices400 and thereby to transmit and receive data to and from the variousinformation processing devices 400. The group of interfaces 304 isconfigured, for example, by N interfaces and is referred to as a port 1to a port N. It is possible to connect the screen split device 300 withthe information processing devices 400 by the number of the group ofinterfaces 304 (by the number of ports).

It is possible to use, for example, a video graphics array (VGA), adigital video interface (DVI), a high resolution multimedia interface(HDMI), a component video interface, a composite video interface, acoaxial video interface, a display port, an S video interface, a SCART,a D terminal interface and so forth as each of the interface 303 and theset of interfaces 304. In addition, it is also possible to useinterfaces for serial port connection, Universal Serial Bus (USB), IEEE1394 (FireWire), Ethernet, Bluetooth, IEEE 802.11, etc. as the interface303 and the group of interfaces 304. The screen split device 300 mayfunction as a single output device for the display 200 by pretending asa single (logic) display to each of the various information processingdevices 400 and by combining the information processing devices 400together, in addition to control of splitting of the screen of thedisplay 200.

The UI module 301 may include one or more sensor(s) and/or one or moreantennae (an infrared sensor is included) configured so as to detect thecommand signal transmitted from the remote control device 500. It ispossible to configure the UI module 301 so as to make the screen splitmodule 302 generate screen information such as menu screen (a UI screen)information, split screen information, etc. to be presented to thedisplay 200. The menu screen may be organized by a layered menustructure that includes a main menu screen and one or more sub menuscreens. In addition, the menu screen may include a popup screen, agraphical user interface (GUI), etc. In addition, it is also possible toconfigure the menu screen so as to include a set of options and suboptions thereof and the options and the sub options may be highlightedby a movable cursor.

The remote control device 500 includes buttons, switches, touch pads,etc. that a user uses in order to perform operator guidance (selection,determination, cursor movement and so forth are included) and it ispossible to configure the remote control device 500 so as to transmitthe command signals according to these operations (selection,determination, cursor movement, etc.) to the UI module 301 of the screensplit device 300, for example, with infrared rays or high-frequencywaves.

The remote control device 500 sends the command signals used to instructdisplay of the menu screen and to perform the operations (selection,determination, cursor movement, etc. are included) to be performed inthe menu screen to the UI module 301 of the screen split device 300. Itis possible for the user to perform a desired operation in the menuscreen by operating the remote control device 500.

The screen split module 302 generates screen information (menu screeninformation, split screen information, etc. are included) to bedisplayed on the display 200 in accordance with the instruction from theUI module 301, outputs the screen information so generated to thedisplay 200 and makes the screen information display on the display 200.

The screen split module 302 splits the display area of the displayscreen on the display 200 into multiple display areas in accordance withthe number of the various information processing devices 400 to beconnected with the group of interfaces 304. The screen split module 302allocates the display areas so split respectively to the variousinformation processing devices 300, generates split screen informationused to display pieces of the display information that are input fromthe various information processing devices 400 via the interfaces 304and outputs the split screen information so generated to the display200.

Further, the screen split module 302 sets the display attribute of eachdisplay area in response to the user operation that has been acceptedfrom the remote control device 500 via the UI module 301. The displayattribute includes, for example, the display position and the displaysize of each display area. That is, it is possible for the user of theinformation processing device 400 to freely set the display size and thedisplay position of each display area so split on the display 200 byoperating the remote control device 500. As such, user usability isimproved.

FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating the screen split system 100 in FIG. 2.A main menu screen 210 is displayed in the display screen 201 of thedisplay 200 in the example illustrated in FIG. 3. For example, it ispossible for the screen split device 300 to display the main menu screen210 in response to the user operation that the user performs by usingthe remote control device 500. On the main menu screen 210, it ispossible for the user to select one of a set of options of “ONE SCREENDISPLAY” and “SPLIT SCREEN DISPLAY.” It is possible for the user toselect one of “ONE SCREEN DISPLAY” and “SPLIT SCREEN DISPLAY” byoperating the remote control device 500 and moving the cursor 220. Aport that the information processing device 400 concerned is connectedmay be displayed on the display 200. In FIG. 3, the example that theinformation processing device 400A, 400B and 400C are respectivelyconnected to port 1 to port 3 is illustrated.

For example, when “ONE SCREEN DISPLAY” is selected it is possible forthe screen split device 300 to display the sub menu screen of “ONESCREEN DISPLAY.” It is possible to display information used to select aport for performing one screen display on the sub menu screen of “ONESCREEN DISPLAY.” In addition, when “SPLIT SCREEN DISPLAY” is selected,for example, the screen split device 300 may display a sub menu screenof “SPLIT SCREEN DISPLAY” (see FIG. 5). Information used to select thedisplay attributes of the group of display areas to be displayed in asplit state may be displayed on the sub menu screen of “SPLIT SCREENDISPLAY.” FIG. 4 is a flowchart illustrating a method for performingsplit screen display. In FIG. 4, when the UI module 301 accepts theinstruction to display the menu screen according to the user operationperformed by the remote control device 500, the screen split module 302displays the main menu screen on the display 200 (S101).

When the UI module 301 accepts selection of “SPLIT SCREEN DISPLAY” onthe main menu screen in accordance with the user operation performed bythe remote control device 500 (S102), the screen split module 302displays the sub menu screen of “SPLIT SCREEN DISPLAY” (S103).

The screen split module 302 splits the display screen 201 of the display200 into the group of display areas and allocates the variousinformation processing devices 400 that are connected to the interfaces304 to the display areas so split respectively (S104).

The screen split module 302 sets the display attribute (for example, thedisplay position and the display size) of each display area inaccordance with the user operation that the UI module 301 has acceptedand the user has performed by the remote control device 500 on the submenu screen of “SPLIT SCREEN DISPLAY” (S105).

The screen split device 302 displays pieces of the display informationthat are input from the information processing devices 400 in therespective display areas that the display attributes have been setrespectively (S106).

FIG. 5 is a diagram illustrating one example of the sub menu screen of“SPLIT SCREEN DISPLAY.” The example that each of the display areas hasbeen made rectangular (quadrilateral) in shape is illustrated in FIG. 5.As illustrated in FIG. 5, on a sub menu screen 220, setting items of thedisplay positions and the display sizes (lower left coordinates (0 toX100, 0 to Y100), upper right coordinates (0 to X100, 0 to Y100), and arotation angle [in a display direction of the display information (0degrees to 360 degrees)] and ON/OFF of mirroring) are displayed to besettable by the user operation as the display attributes of the displayareas of port 1 to port 3 (for the information processing devices 400A,400B and 400C). In the example illustrated in FIG. 5, the displaypositions and the display sizes of the display areas of port 1 to port 3are set. When an OK button is depressed, a split screen that hasreflected setting details of the setting item concerned is displayed inthe display screen 201 of the display 200.

In addition, a preview screen 250 that has reflected the setting detailsof the setting item concerned is displayed in the sub menu screen 220.Areas 251, 252 and 253 that correspond to the display areas that thedisplay attributes of port 2 to port 3 (for the information processingdevises 400A, 400B and 400C) have been set are displayed in the previewscreen 250. It is possible for the user to easily perform setting bysetting the display attribute while confirming the preview screen 250.Incidentally, the areas 251, 252 and 253 may be edited (scaling-up,scaling-down, movement, rotation angle setting, ON/OFF setting ofmirroring and so forth) in the preview screen 250 so as to make itpossible to set the display attribute of each display area. Thereby, itbecomes possible for the user to graphically set the display attributeof each display area.

FIG. 6 is a diagram illustrating one display example of the split screenof the display 200 that setting of the display attributes in FIG. 5 hasbeen reflected. As illustrated in FIG. 6, display areas 261 to 263 thatcorrespond to port 1 to port 3 are set in the display screen 201 of thedisplay 200. The screen split module 302 displays pieces of the displayinformation that are input from the information processing devices 400Ato 400C respectively in the display areas 261 to 263. The numbers of thecorresponding ports may be assigned to the display areas 261 to 263. Inthe example illustrated in FIG. 6, the numbers 1, 2 and 3 of the portscorresponding to the display areas 261 to 263 are displayed.

FIG. 7 is a diagram illustrating one display example of the display 200when a rotation direction of port 2 has been set to about 180 degrees(the display direction of the display information has been reversed) inthe sub menu screen 220 in FIG. 5. In the display area 262 thatcorresponds to port 2, the display information that is output from theinformation processing device 400B is reversely displayed.

FIG. 8 is a diagram illustrating one display example of the display 200when mirroring of the display area corresponding to port 3 has been setON in the sub menu screen 220 in FIG. 5. A display area 264 obtained bymirroring the display area 263 that corresponds to port 3 is displayed.In addition, also the mirrored display area 264 may be configured suchthat it is possible for the user to set the display direction of thedisplay information to be displayed. For example, there are cases wherethe user wishes to display upright display information and reversedinformation in the same screen.

In addition, when the group of display areas has been mutuallysuperimposed, the display areas may be displayed in the overlappingstate (displayed in a layered state). FIG. 9 is a diagram illustratingone display example of the display 200 when the group of the displayareas has been displayed in the overlapping state. In FIG. 9, part ofthe display area 261 is displayed in a state of overlapping the displayarea 263. The display area to be displayed on the upper side may be adisplay area that has been set later than others. In addition, thedisplay area to be displayed on the upper side may be configured to besettable by the user. In addition, the priority may be set for everydisplay area (port) so as to display the display area that is higher inpriority than others on the upper side.

As the display attribute of each display area, for example, a displayshape may be configured to be settable to a rectangular shape □, acircular shape ◯, a triangular shape Δ, a rhomboid shape ⋄, etc., inresponse to the user operation. For example, the display shape may beconfigured to be settable on the sub menu screen 220 of “SPLIT SCREENDISPLAY” illustrated in FIG. 5.

FIG. 10 is a diagram illustrating one display example when the displayshapes of the display areas have been set. In FIG. 10, the circularshape ◯, the rectangular shape □ and the triangular shape Δ arerespectively set for the display areas 261 to 263 as the display shapes.In addition, for example, in case of the circular shape ◯, it ispossible to define the display position and the display size by usingcenter coordinates and a radius. In addition, in case of the rectangularshape □, it is possible to define the display position and the displaysize by using the lower left coordinates and the upper right coordinatesas described in FIG. 5. In addition, in case of the triangular shape Δ,it is possible to define the display position and the display size byusing coordinates of three apexes.

As has been described, the present invention provides a method forperforming split screen display.

A program product can be provided for performing split screen display.The program product may include a computer readable storage medium thatstores a processor executable code, in which the executable code mayinclude a code used for execution of accepting a user operation,splitting a display area on a display screen of a display into a groupof display areas, and allocating the group of display areas so split tovarious information processing devices that are connected via interfacesrespectively, setting a display attribute of each display area soallocated to each information processing device in response to the useroperation, the display attribute including a display position and adisplay size of each display area, and displaying display informationthat is input from each of the various information processing devices ineach display area for which the display attribute has been set.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described withreference to a preferred embodiment, it will be understood by thoseskilled in the art that various changes in form and detail may be madetherein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is:
 1. An apparatus for performing split screen display, said apparatus comprising: a plurality of interfaces through which a plurality of information processing devices are connected to said apparatus; a user interface (UI) module for receiving a user operation; and a screen split module for splitting a display screen into a plurality of display areas, for allocating said display areas to said plurality of information processing devices accordingly, and for displaying various display information from said plurality of information processing devices via said interfaces on said display areas accordingly, wherein said screen split module also sets a display attribute of each of said display areas in response to said user operation that has been accepted by said UI module.
 2. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said display attribute includes a display position and a display size of each of said display areas.
 3. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said display attribute includes a display direction of said display information.
 4. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said display attribute includes a display shape.
 5. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said display attribute includes mirroring of said display information to be displayed on one of said display areas.
 6. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein two of said display areas are displayed in an overlapping state.
 7. The apparatus of claim 1, wherein said UI module accepts said user operation via a remote control device, an operation button disposed on a chassis of the device, a touch sensor disposed in said display screen of said display, a sensor adapted to detect a gesture of a user.
 8. A method comprising: receiving a user operation via an receiver; splitting a display screen into a plurality of display areas; allocating said plurality of display areas to a plurality of information processing devices that are connected to said receiver accordingly; setting a display attribute of each of said allocated display areas to each of said information processing device in response to a user operation; and displaying various display information coming from each of said plurality of information processing devices in each of said allocated display areas for which said display attribute has been set accordingly.
 9. The method of claim 8, wherein said display attribute includes a display position and a display size of each of said allocated display areas.
 10. The method of claim 8, wherein said display attribute includes a display direction of said display information.
 11. The method of claim 8, wherein said display attribute includes a display shape.
 12. The method of claim 8, wherein said display attribute includes mirroring of said display information to be displayed on one of said display areas.
 13. The method of claim 8, wherein two of said display areas are displayed in an overlapping state.
 14. A computer readable storage medium having a program product for performing split screen display, said computer readable storage medium comprising: computer code for receiving a user operation via an receiver; computer code for splitting a display screen into a plurality of display areas; computer code for allocating said plurality of display areas to a plurality of information processing devices that are connected to said receiver accordingly; computer code for setting a display attribute of each of said allocated display areas to each of said information processing device in response to a user operation, wherein said display attribute includes a display position and a display size of each of said allocated display areas; and computer code for displaying various display information coming from each of said plurality of information processing devices in each of said allocated display areas for which said display attribute has been set accordingly. 